Handles for flexible doors



July 26, 1955 w, D. TEAGUE ETAL HANDLES FOR FLEXIBLE DOORS Filed March 27, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l @@5675 H ZZ-fwg/a July 26, 1955 w. D. TEAGUE :TAL 2,713,897

HANDLES FOR FLEXIBLE DOORS Filed March 27, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 26, 1955 w. D. TE'AGUE ETAL 2,713,897

HANDLES FOR FLEXIBLE DOORS Filed MJCh 27, 1955 5 SheebS-Sheel 3 2,713,897 Patented July 26, 1955 HANDLES FOR FLEXIBLE DOORS Walter Darwin Teague, Annandale, N. J., and Robert H. Ensign, Bronxvlle, N. Y., assignors to The. Hough Shade Corporation, a corporation of Connecticut Application March 27, 1953, Serial No. 345,166

13 Claims. (Cl. 1611-117) This invention relates to handles and latches for folding flexible doors, and has for its principal object to provide handles that will keep the fingers and thumb of the operator in safe positions during natural movements in closing and opening the doors and engaging and d1sengaging the latches.

Generally speaking, this is accomplished by provrdlng handles with concavo-convex finger pieces adapted to be grasped between the terminal phalanXes of each hand with the thumb on the concave side and the ngers grouped on the convex side and well away from danger of being pinched, and also providing latch pins that will be inserted in receivers by the closing movement.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of adjacent portions of folding, flexible doors equipped with handles and latches embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a folding, flexible door equipped with handles and latches according to the invention and adapted to close against a door frame;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3 showing the door closed and latched;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the handle;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the handle looking from the right of Fig. 5

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the latch and receiving catch;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of double doors having improved Stiles and in closed position within a door frame;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8 with parts broken away;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 8 with parts broken away to show the relations at the notches for the handle;

Fig. l1 is a perspective view of the filler plate for filling one of the notches;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the stiles; and

Fig. 13 is a section on the line 13-13 of Fig. l2.

But these specific drawings and the corresponding description are used for the purpose of illustrative disclosure only, and are not intended to impose unnecessary limitations on the claims.

In Fig. 1, there is shown portions of folding, ilexible doors including fabric made of upright slats 10 woven with twine 11, one end of each door section being nished with a molding or stile 12.

Each handle has a body portion generally indicated by 13 including a plate 14 adapted to be made fast to the edge 15 of the door. The body portion also includes oppositely directed flanges 16 aligned with the plate 14, each having a concavo-convex portion 17 to be grasped between the terminal phalanges of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side substantially as indicated in Fig. 2.

The flanges 16 are here shown as continuations of the plate 14 and distinguish from it by grooves 18 to break up the long, flat surface.

In one form that has been found satisfactory, the concavo-convex portions 17 are about 3/32 thick with the convex side substantially spherical on a radius of 11/2, except adjacent to the upper and lower ends 19 where that spherical surface blends with the spherical surface with a 5%" radius struck from a center about 1%3 from the diameter of the larger sphere.

The body portion of the handle may be secured to the door in any suitable manner, but preferably, as here shown, it is provided with rearwardly directed, parallel flanges 20 spaced to provide a slot or pocket to receive the stile 12 closely, as indicated in Fig. 2, and be secured by screws 21.

The latch includes a body portion 22 having a projecting latch pin 23 provided with a tapered enlargement 24 adapted to be received in a catch plate 25 having a receiving slot 26.

As here shown and has been found satisfactory, the latch pin has a tapered frusto-pyramidal portion 27 having sides inclined on the order of 30 degrees. That frusto-pyramidal portion terminates in a shoulder 28 about 1&2 long; and behind that the pin is reduced to 1%4" with fillets 29 struck on a radius of about 1/15".

The shoulder 28 is on the order of square, and is received in a slot 26 in the catch plate of less width, on the order of 5/1000 or 1%000, so that the elasticity or resilience of the material will permit the latch pin to enter and then be retained until pulled by suitable force.

Vertically, the slot 26 is on the order of twice the length of the shoulder 28 to allow for sagging and misalignment.

The outer vertical corners of the slot 26 are rounded on the order ofG radius to provide a suitable entrance.

Functionally, the latch body and the catch body are integral parts of the handles, but, for convenience in manufacture and distribution for use with either double or single doors, they are made separate.

The handle body 14 is provided with an upright slot 31 (Fig. 2) countersunk at 32 on the side adjacent to the door stile 12, and the body portion 22 of the latch is provided with a flange 33 tting into the countersunk portion 32 substantially as shown in Fig. 2. The result of this construction is that the latch body may be inserted in the handle followed by the stile and made fast by screws which will serve to hold the parts together.

In a similar manner, the catch plate 25 is interlocked as shown at the left in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 3, the arrangement is shown for a single door generally indicated by 35 adapted to close against a door frame 36, in which instance the handle and latch are carried by the stile 12, and the catch plate 25 is made fast to the door frame by screws 37.

The handles and latches may be made of a great variety of materials, but for decorative purposes it is preferable to make the handles of a copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile, on the market by Bakelite Corp. under the trade name of Bakelite C-II. An alternative in the class of so-called plastics is cellulose-acetate butyrate, known as Tenite II, marketed by Tennessee Eastman Corporation.

These materials have the impact and tensile strength together with a special adaptability for color that suits them for decorative purposes; but, of course, the handles can be made of various metals, preferably aluminum, copper alloys, and so-called white metal because of the low weight.

The latches and catches are preferably made of a protein plastic from the reaction of adipic acid and hexamethylene diamine, both produced from coke-oven gases 3 and sold by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. under the name Nylon An alternative is high impact polystyrene resin.

With latch bodies and catch bodies separate from the handles, they may be interchanged readily to suit user preference, and the problems of manufacture, stocking, and shipment are much simplified.

In order to leave no crack between the ends of doors, or the end of a door and the door frame, the handles may be let into the stiles 12, and the catches may be let into the door frame or the adjacent stile.

In Fig. 8, double doors are each provided with irnproved mouldings or stiles 40 and carried by special fixtures 42 operating in an overhead track 41 corresponding to those disclosed in the application of Don C. Holloway and Robert H. Ensign on Flexible Doors, Ser. No. 342,626, filed March 16, 1953, of common ownership herewith.

The stiles 40 are substantially square in cross section,

but rabbeted at the corners 43, as best shown in Figs. 9, l2, and 13. Each stile is also provided with a diagonal slot 44 to receive a marginal slat 10 of the door fabric, to which it is made fast by a double nail 45.

One of the stiles 40 is secured to the door frame 46 by screws 47, and the other stile is equipped with a handle of the form and construction shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3, the stile being notched to receive the handle plate 14 and the spaced flanges 20.

By virtue of the fabric entering the mouldings at a diagonal, the faces of the mouldings are parallel, which facilitates the use of the improved handles and makes it possible to bring them directly together, as shown particularly in Fig. 9.

The moulding 40 being used at both ends of the door makes for uniformity, and the two mouldings plus the overhead track 41 frame the door in a trim and artistic manner, as shown in Fig. 8.

It is also convenient to make the flexible doors all the same, to the end that a customer for a single door or double doors could be supplied from the same stock, and make the appropriate switch in the handles in order to have them take the left and right positions shown in Fig. 9. To carry this out, the stile moulding 40 at one edge of each door is notched on four sides at 48, as indicated best in Figs. 12 and 13, the notches being of a depth corresponding to the thickness of the handle plate 14 and the spaced flanges 20. With such construction, the handle at the right in Fig. 9 can be shifted readily to the position shown at the left in that figure by removing the handle, turning it through 180 degrees, and pushing it into place with the flanges 20 in different opposed notches 48.

rfhe flanges 20 and the plate 14 will then fill three of the notches, and a special filler plate 49 is provided for the remaining notch. Preferably, the filler plate has a flange 50 and bevelled edges 51, and the spaced flanges 20 have corresponding bevelled edges 52, to the end that when the filler piece is in place there will be no visible notch, as indicated best in Figs. 9 and l0.

In the interest of simplicity, the latch feature has been omitted from Figs. 9 and l0, but it will be understood that the arrangement shown in Figs. 1-7 preferably will be used.

As shown in Figs. 9, l0, l2, and 13, the stiles are actually made in two like pieces, one at each side of a diagonal of a square with rabbeted corners. In one satisfactory form, each rabbeted groove 43 is V32 deep, leaving between corners a flat side 7/8 wide; and the diagonal slot 44 is about 1/8 wide. This form is advantageously made by machine cutting from 4" x 4" lumber.

We claim:

l. A latching door handle comprising a body portion having a pair of spaced flanges projecting rearwardly and defining an opening for receiving the edge of a door, coplanar flanges oppositely right angularly directed from the junction of the body portion and the spaced flanges and each provided with a rearwardly directed concavo-convex portion to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side, and a latch pin having a tapered enlargement projecting forwardly from the body portion for insertion in a receiving catch on a surface against which the door is adapted to be closed.

2. A latching door handle comprising a body portion having a pair of spaced flanges projecting rearwardly and defining an opening for receiving the edge of a door and having a slot countersunk on its rear surface between said flanges, co-planar flanges oppositely right angularly directed from the junction of the body portion and the spaced flanges and each provided with a rearwardly directed concave-convex portion to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side, and a latch plate received in said countersunk slot and provided with a latching surface for cooperating with a complemental latching surface fast on a member against which the dor is adapted to be closed.

3. A latching door handle comprising a body portion having a pair of spaced flanges projecting rearwardly and defining an opening for receiving the edge of a door and having a slot countersunk on its rear surface between said flanges, co-planar flanges oppositely right angularly directed from the junction of the body portion and the spaced flanges and each provided with a rearwardly directed concavo-convex portion to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side, and a latch plate received in said countersunk slot and provided with a latch pin having a tapered enlargement projecting forwardly from the body portion for insertion in a receiving catch on a surface against which the door is adapted to be closed.

4. A latching door handle comprising a body portion having a pair of spaced flanges projecting rearwardly and defining an opening for receiving the edge of a door and having a slot countersunk on its rear surface between said flanges, co-planar flanges oppositely right angularly directed from the junction of the body portion and the spaced flanges and each provided with a rearwardly directed concavo-convex portion to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side, and a latch plate received in said countersunk slot and provided with an opening adapted to receive and hold in latched relation a pin projecting from the handle of a cooperating door.

5. The combination claimed in claim 2, in which the front surface of the body portion is provided with spaced parallel grooves for aligning with the side edges of a door stile having portions of said side edges notched out and inserted in the opening defined by the spaced flanges.

6. A handle and latch mechanism for use with a sliding or folding door comprising a body portion having rearwardly extending flanges adapted to receive the stile of a door and a laterally extending member constituting a hand-gripping portion, said body portion having a slot intermediate the rearwardly extending flanges and countersunk from the rear, and a latching member having offset surfaces mating with the slot countersink to thereby locate the latching member with respect to said slot.

7. A handle and latch mechanism as set forth in claim 6 in which said laterally extending member includes a concavo-convex portion adapted to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the fingers on the convex side.

8. A handle for use with a sliding or folding door comprising a face plate having rearwardly extending flanges adapted to receive the stile of a door, and oppositelydirected, laterally extending flanges constituting handgripping portions on opposite sides of the stile, said laterally extending members each including a concavo-convex portion located rearwardly of the plane of the face plate with the concave side facing laterally outwardly of the door whereby said concavo-convex portion is adapted to be grasped between the terminal phalanxes of the hand with the thumb on the concave side and the lingers on the convex side.

9. A handle and latch mechanism for use with a sliding or folding door comprising a body portion having a face plate with integral rearwardly extending flanges adapted to receive the stile of a door and a laterally extending member constituting a hand-gripping portion, said face plate having a slot intermediate the rearwardly extending flanges, and interchangeable male and female latching members adapted to be mounted and held in place between said door stile and the face plate over said slot, the male latching member comprising a latch pin and the female member comprising a plate with a mating slot for the latch pin having one of its dimensions slightly less than the corresponding dimension ol the pin, one of the latching members being sulciently resilient to permit the latch pin to be frictionally received and held within the slot of said female latch member.

10. A handle and latch mechanism for use with a sliding or folding door comprising a body portion having a face plate with rearwardly extending flanges adapted to receive the stile of a door and a laterally extending member constituting a hand-gripping portion, said face plate having a slot intermediate the rearwardly extending flanges, a latching member adapted to be mounted and held in place between said door stile and the face plate over said slot, a complementary latching member adapted to cooperate with the first-mentioned latching member, said latching members constituting male and female members with the male latching member comprising a latch pin and the female member comprising a plate with a mating slot for the latch pin having one of its dimensions slightly less than the corresponding dimension of the pin, one of the latching members being sufficiently resilient to permit the latch pin to be frictionally received and held within the slot of said female latch member.

11. A handle and latch mechanism as set forth in `claim 10 in which the latch pin includes a frustopyramidal enlargement adjacent its end.

12. A handle and latch mechanism as set forth in claim 9 in which the slot of said face plate is countersunk from the rear and said latching members are provided with olfset surfaces mating with the slot countersink to thereby locate the latching member with respect to said face plate slot.

13. In a folding exible door, a door stile, a handle and latch mechanism for said door comprising a body portion having rearwardly extending anges receiving said stile, and a laterally extending member constituting a hand-gripping portion, said body portion having a slot intermediate the rearwardly extending anges and countersunk from the rear, a latching member having marginal offset surfaces mating with the slot countersink to thereby locate the latching member with respect to said slot, and means to secure the body portion to the stile in close-fitting relationship, whereby said latching member is firmly held by said olset surfaces in fixed relationship to said body portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 116,379 Wendell June 27, 1871 813,927 Taylor Feb. 27, 1906 1,077,643 Satka Nov. 4, 1913 1,704,039 Everhard Mar. 5, 1929 1,761,582 Pelton June 3, 1930 1,829,617 Steffen Oct. 27, 1931 1,846,202 Hough Feb. 23, 1932 2,430,974 Crawford Nov. 18, 1947 2,593,909 Moreland Apr. 22, 1952 2,616,122 Curtiss Nov. 4, 1952 

